Montezuma, keizer van Mexico c. 1400 - 1950

This bust of Montezuma, Emperor of Mexico, stands 22 cm high and was crafted by an anonymous artist. Notice how the sculpture simplifies the Emperor's form into basic shapes. His cloak, draped symmetrically, creates a broad, inverted triangle that grounds the figure, while the head, with its stoic expression, emerges as a focused point of attention. The dark, uniform colour and textured surface emphasize the material's density, lending the sculpture a monumental quality despite its modest scale. The artist has used geometric forms to evoke a sense of power and authority, reducing Montezuma to archetypal forms that speak to structuralist ideas about universal symbolic systems. The leaf motif at the cloak’s centre and the headpiece add semiotic weight, hinting at cultural meanings related to leadership and status. This artwork invites us to consider how even the most abstract forms can carry significant cultural and historical weight.